Hundreds of students and faculty of the Oak Bluffs School paraded toward Inkwell Beach Friday morning with flowers in their hands and with an emergency services escort as part of an Island tradition known as March to the Sea — an honoring of Island veterans and everyone who gave their life in the name of freedom.
The procession filtered into Waban Park where veterans in attendance were named and honored. After performances and a sing-along of “A Grand Old Flag” and “America the Beautiful,” eighth graders took to the shoreline with their bouquets, throwing bunches of flowers into the ocean as an act of remembrance.
Oak Bluffs this year joined the tradition along with Edgartown School, where students annually walk to the Memorial Wharf every year, and Tisbury, where students traditionally march to Owen Park. For Oak Bluffs, it was the first time partaking in the March to the Sea tradition since before they moved into their current school building over 30 years ago. And for veterans in attendance, it was a meaningful moment.
“It’s so moving, and the thing about it is… for the veterans that are here… people don’t realize how much it means to them,” said Bob Tankard, the Islands veterans outreach coordinator who served during Vietnam. “What happened here today, the March to the Sea, means so much to some of these guys.”
“Some are veterans of Vietnam and they didn’t get the accolades that everyone else got…. And they came today and it blessed them… I feel blessed.. I came to tears a couple of times,” Tankard added.
Town officials were also glad to see the procession back in Oak Bluffs.
“It was fantastic,” said Oak Bluffs Police Chief Jonathan Searle. “The sacrifices made by those sometimes fall by the wayside and things get taken for granted — the combat vets are those who really really sacrificed for our country.”
Tom Bennett, director of veteran services at Community Services, who grew up on Island and served as a medic in the United States Airforce, said he was honored by the ceremony returning to Oak Bluffs.
“It’s great they are doing it again,” said Bennet. “It’s such a great way for veterans in the school and for Island veterans to make meaning out of their experience. Doing things like this to remind people what we are all about…the military is all about making it so we can have children get an education and enjoy the freedom we have.”
On Monday, the American Legion Post 257 will host its century-old Memorial Day parade, starting at 10:30 am from the Legion Hall parking lot in Vineyard Haven and ending at Oak Grove Cemetery.
Those of us with deep ties to the Vineyard and Oak Bluffs who saw heavy combat in Vietnam appreciate the “March to the Sea” more than they know. In 1967, my Battalion had so many casualties that we were pulled out of Vietnam and sent to the Philippines, where we joined 400 new Marines directly from Camp Pendleton. We returned to Vietnam a month before the Tet Offensive began.
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